Four-way hat expander



Jan. 6, 1948. c. F. VLASIS FOUR-WAY HAT EXPANDER Filed June 5, 1946 INVENTOR CHRIS F. VLASIS ATTO NEYS Patented Jan. 6, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOUR-WAY HAT EXPANDER Chris F. Vlasis, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application June 3, 1946, Serial No. 674,064

the top, bottom and outer faces thereof are left smooth and unobstructed so .as to facilitate the hand pressing of hat brims etc.

Another salient object of my invention is to provide a four way hat expander embodying duplicate front and rear sections and duplicate side sections, with means for adjusting the front and rear sections toward and away from one another and novel means operatively connecting the side sections with the front and rear sections, whereby movement of the front and rear sections will automatically cause the side sections to be expanded or contracted according to the direction of movement of the front and rear sections.

A further important object of my invention is to provide novel means for connecting the side sections with the front and rear sections, whereby said side sections can be independently adjusted toward the front or rear after the device has -been expanded to form a desired wide back or front oval shape to the hat being blocked.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a hat expander which will cover all ranges of sizes and which will be durable and eficient in use, one which will be simple and easy to manufacture and one which can be placed upon the market at a reasonable cost.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of my improved hat expander showing the same in its complete contractedposition, parts of the view being shown broken away and in section to illustrate structural detail.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the device adjusted to one of its expanded positions.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail sectional view taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows and illustrating more particularly the novel means utilized by connecting adjacent ends of sections toather.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views the letter E generally indicates my improved hat expander.

This hat expander E includes duplicate or like front and rear sections 5 and 6 and duplicate or like sections 1 and 8. These sections can be made from any preferred material such as Wood. plastic, or metal and the same are all of an .arcuate shape. The sections when placedtogether form an open substantially oval shaped frame in plan. The sections preferably have their outer faces tapered downwardly as at 9 toward the bottom of the device so that the same will ive a desired shape to a hat being blocked and so as to permit the device to be inserted difierent distances within the crown of a hat to give a desired range of hat sizes.

The front and rear sections 5 and 5 are operatively connected by a turn buckle mechanism l0 so that the sections can be adjusted toward and away from one another.

This turn buckle mechanism it includes threaded shanks or screws H and i2 rigidly anchored in front and rear sections at the central longitudinal line of the device. These screws I] and 12 are connected by a turn buckle nut 1:3. Obviously by turning the nut the sections 5 and .6 can be moved away from one another or toward one another. By referring .to Figure 3 .of the drawing it can be seen that the turn buckle mechanism I0 is located intermediate the top and bot tom faces of the hat expander.

The side sections 1 and 8 are operatively connected to the front and rear sections 5 and 6 in a novel manner so that as the sections 5 and 6 are moved away from one another the side sections 1 and 8 will likewise be moved away from one another. This structure is such that when the sections 5 and 6 are moved toward one another the side sections 1 and 8 will likewise be moved toward one another and to a contracted position. This is accomplished by the use of plates or straps l4, and it is to be noted that these plates are rigidly fastened, by means of pins IE to the terminals of the front and rear sections 5 and 6. The inner faces of these sections 5 and 6 are slotted as at IE to receive the plates M. The projecting ends of the plates 14 are received in slots l1 formed in the terminals of the sections 1 and 8. These projecting ends of these plates M are themselves provided with slots l8 and pins l9 rigidly carried by the side sections 1 and 8 extend through these slots and the plates slide on the pins I9 during movement of the front and rear sections.

3 By referring to Figures 1 and 2, it can be seen that the edges of the rojecting ends of the plates slidably engage and bear against the inner walls of the slots or grooves H.

The plates I4 can be arranged in superimposed pairs or can be used singly as may be desired.

In order to create a desired tension between the side sections and the front and rear sections expansion springs 20 can be utilized between the meeting ends of the sections and these meeting ends can be provided with sockets in which can be fitted the terminals of the springs.

In use of my hat expander the same is placed within the crown of a hat and the turn buckle is rotated so that to move the front and rear sections outwardly to the correct and desired size. This outward movement of the side sections 1 and 8, is due to the engagement of the plates M with the pins I9 and the side sections; After the device has been expanded to the desired size the hat can be manipulated and pressed in the usual way.

The side sections can be slid forwardly or backwardly on the plates [4 by the operator where a wide front or rear oval is desired.

With my hat expander all usual range of hat sizes, say 6% to 7% can be had and in view of the fact that all working parts are intermediate the top and bottom faces; said top and bottom faces will be left smooth and unobstructed, which is highly desirable during the pressing of brims and the like.

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention, but what I claim as new is:

A hat expander comprising like arcuate side sections, and like arcuate front and rear sections, said sections having their terminals placed in adjacent relation to form an oval shaped frame, means operatively connecting the front and rear sections together for adjustment toward and away from one another, outwardly projecting plates rigidly secured to the terminals of certain sections, the remaining sections having their ends slotted to slidably receive the projecting ends of said plates, said projecting ends of the plates being longitudinally slotted, and pins rigidly secured to the last mentioned sections slidably received in said slots.

' 2. A hat expander comprising like arcuate side sections and like arcuate front and rear sections, said sections having their terminals placed in adjacent relation to form an oval shaped frame, means operatively connecting the front and rear sections together for adjustment toward and away from one another, outwardly projecting plates rigidly secured to the terminals of the front and rear sections, said side sections having their inner faces grooved to slidably receive the projecting ends of said plates, said projecting ends of the plates being longitudinally slotted, pins rigidly secured to the side sections slidably received in said slots, and expansion springs disposed between the adjacent terminals of the side sections and the front and rear sections.

3. A hat expander comprising like arcuate side sections and like front and rear arcuate sections, said sections having their terminals placed in adjacent relation to form an oval shaped frame, means operatively connecting the front and rear sections together for adjustment toward and away from one another, outwardly projecting plates rigidly secured to the terminals of the front and rear sections, said side sections having their inner faces grooved to slidably receive the projecting ends of said plates, said projecting ends of the plates being longitudinally slotted, pins rigidly secured to the side sections slidably received in said slots, and said side sec tions being freely slidable on said plates toward the front or rear when the expander is in an adjusted open position.

CHRIS F. VLASIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 792,354 Sharbaugh June 13,1905 1,187,741 Johnson June 20, 1916 2,075,626 Schlesinger Mar. 30, 1937 1,903,912 Papadopoulos Apr. 18, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 318,713 Great Britain Sept. 12, 1929 

